Domoratskyi Victor and Valentyna, Ivanov Hryhoriy, Yevdokia and Volodymyr

During the German occupation of Dnipropetrovsk (currently Dnipro) Valentyna Domoratska, her son Victor, their neighbors Hryhoriy and Yevdokia Ivanovs with their 16-year-old son Volodymyr were sheltering the Jewish family of Shlahins.

Yakiv Shlahin was a widower. Together with his mother and 7-year-old son Borys they lived in the Karl Marx village near railroad station Ihren (currently the part of Dnipro city). There was situated the psychiatric clinic, where Yakiv was a deputy head doctor

When the anti-Jewish raids started, Yakiv asked his friend and coworker Hryhoriy Ivanon for help. He agreed to hide Yakiv’s family in his apartment. In order to secure a higher level of security, it was decided to separate the escapees. Yakiv was sheltered by Valentyna Domoratska. Later, Hryhoriy Ivanov managed to get a forged passport for Yakiv. So during the occupation, he lived under the name of Hryhoriy Marusenko.

Yakiv’s mother was hiding in the house of Ivanovs’ relatives in the region of Kharkiv. They didn’t know about her Jewish origin. Young Borys was sheltered in the house of Ivanovs’ acquaintance in the village of Bozhedarivka, Dnipropetrovsk region. The woman promised to care about the boy, but after all, he found himself in the local orphanage. One of the local citizens took Borys from there to the neighboring village, where he was found by his father in 1945.

Using the forged documents Yakiv managed to leave Dnipropetrovsk, cross the frontline and join the Red Army. He participated in a few battles, survived, and after the end of the war, he returned to the Dnipropetrovsk region and went for work in the same psychiatric clinic. Later, Shlahins removed to Dnipropetrovsk and maintained strong relations with their saviors.

On April 4, 1999, Ivanovs and Domoratskyis were named “The Righteous Among the Nations”.